


On Icy Tides

by Chaotc_Univrse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angry Keith (Voltron), Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), Gen, Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Medical Inaccuracies, Mild Blood, Sad Pidge | Katie Holt, Sentient Voltron Lions, Shibro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-07-02 02:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15787281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotc_Univrse/pseuds/Chaotc_Univrse
Summary: When two paladins get separated from the team it turns into a race against time to find them before something worse does.





	1. Too Late

**Author's Note:**

> Because I thought "you know what this fandom doesn't have enough of?"  
> Enjoy?

_“Be careful Lance!”_

_“Keith lookout!”_

_“Green’s pinned, there’s too many of them!”_

_“Get out of there Hunk!”_

_“Shiro behind you!”_

_“Paladins-!”_

_CRASH_

 

Shiro almost growled as a large purple beam shot through the group, hitting the side of his lion and knocking them aside. He gripped both controls and quickly righted himself before scanning the space before them.

The red lion soared over the top of Shiro. Keith tackled the oncoming Galra fighters head on. Beyond him, the blue lion dived and spun and dodged each attack made against it as it carved a path for Hunk to get free.

Their voices were panicked over the coms system. Shiro’s ears were still ringing from the impact though he did his best to focus.

Hunk was talking too quickly, as if reeling off every thought that came to mind. Lance was yelling at the ships he took out like they could hear his insults. Keith was focused, though Shiro could hear the alarm in his voice whenever he spoke. And Pidge…

Pidge was silent.

Shiro’s stomach lurched.

He moved his lion quickly, his eyes scanning for the green lion. Seconds passed before he caught sight of the unmoving lion. His grip on the controls tightened as he remembered how they’d been before the beam hit; remembered her shout when it struck.

“Paladins the castle can’t take another hit, we must leave!” Allura’s voice was strained over the coms.

“I’m going after Pidge!” Shiro heard various shouts of protest but didn’t pause to think before jamming his controls forward to race towards her.

Galra ships flew for him as he dove though he stayed focused, weaving in and out of the fighter ships to get to the green paladin.

It wasn’t long before his lion’s claws reached the green lion. He gripped the lion, starting to fly up to re-join the other paladins.

“Pidge?” He tried to sound calm though the static he received from Pidge made it hard to do so, “Can you hear me?!”

“We need to get out of here!” Keith yelled over the coms as more Galra fighters emerged from their ships.

Shiro cursed and jerked the controls sideways to avoid colliding with several fighters. The claws of his lion slipped a little on Pidge’s lion but he stopped short from his roll and gripped the smaller lion tighter.

A hit from a fighter slammed into the side of the black lion, but Shiro didn't stop.

Ahead of them the other three lions were swerving in and out of fighters; their gazes flitting back to their separated team members.

“Go!” Shiro’s heart was beating fast in his chest, his stomach tying itself in knots.

At that, Keith turned and shot up for the castle. Lance and Hunk quickly righted themselves to do the same.

They were close.

Shiro saw the wormhole open before the castle. Lance reached it first though paused to look back.

“ _SHIRO!”_

Shiro whirled just in time to watch the bright beam of an ion canon as it hurtled towards both the green and black lion. He swore, jerking the controls down though he knew with the size of Black he’d never make it clear.

The other paladins were yelling.

Their words blurred together.

Then the beam hit.

 

* * *

 

 

Allura’s head was spinning. Alarms were ringing out throughout the bridge. Coran was tapping away at the speed of light on his screens. She could hear the paladins shouting warnings and directions in her ears. There was a crash as a beam hit the castle.

“Barrier at 34%!” Coran cried as more screens flashed with bright red lights, “If we take another hit like that, we’re done for!”

Allura glanced at the scan of the barrier, seeing its weakened points that were quickly overtaking the shield. She looked out at the battlefield and noted the number of Galra ships had grown.

“Paladins the castle can’t take another hit, we must leave!” Allura’s voice was strained over the coms.

_“I’m going after Pidge!”_

Her blood froze as she noticed the green lion floating lifelessly in space. The black lion dove. She watched the red lion slam into a Galra fighter that went to intercept him. Blue and yellow followed suit.

“Coran, divert all remaining power to the teleduv,” Allura said, steeling her voice to stop it wavering and pushing the thought of Pidge to the back of her mind for now, “We need to get out of here.”

Coran, to his credit, didn’t argue. His fingers flew across the screens in front of him. A bar appeared in Allura’s peripherals detailing how long until the teleduv was ready as she hurriedly typed in the coordinates. The jump would take them far enough, though once they did the castle be nearly completely out of power.

She risked a glance out. The blue and yellow lions were closest. Red was behind them though gaining ground quickly. Black and green were further. Allura meant to hold off on creating the wormhole but was too late.

The shimmering gateway opened up before them, the castle half being pulled through it before Allura had a chance to order any differently.

The castle shook. The princess stopped a shout from escaping as she was thrown temporarily off balance.

“Barrier at 7%!”

The lights flicked as the castle took another hit. Three of the lions were close; close enough to make it through in a moment’s notice.

Though they halted.

Allura saw where their gazes fell.

Saw the purple beam of an ion cannon as it was too late to do anything.

_“SHIRO!”_

Keith’s voice cut through the noise as the cannon fire.

The black lion’s head stayed trained on the castle as the beam slammed into its side. The paladins were shouting as they were pulled through the wormhole.

And the last thing Allura saw before they vanished, was two lions spiralling towards the surface of the blue icy planet.

And then the lights went dark.


	2. Take Your Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later than intended but here it is!

Keith was frozen. His eyes were wide as he stared at the space his two teammates had been. The grip he had on his controls were iron. Slowly, he became aware of Lance and Hunk talking frantically over the coms. More slowly, he became aware of one of them calling his name.

“Keith are you there buddy?” _Lance._ “Come on man, talk to me.” _He was worried._ “Keith?!”

“Yeah,” Keith’s voice was quiet and distant, “I’m here.”

He swallowed and blinked hard before taking in where they were. The blue and yellow lions were watching him. Beyond them sat the castle. Unmoving.

“Allura?” Keith frowned.

“We can’t get through to the castle,” Hunk said, “Or to Pidge or Shiro.”

Keith nodded, then seemed to remember they couldn’t see him, “Okay. Let’s go.”

He started making his way for the castle. Lance and Hunk followed without a word. Even as they ran from the hangars to the bridge a heavy silence remained over them. Keith hesitated when the doors opened. Allura was sat in the middle of the room though her head shot to them as they entered, quickly getting to her feet.

“Paladins!” She smiled though it faded quickly, “I can’t get through to Pidge or Shiro.”

Hunk shook his head, “Neither can we.”

“We need to go back for them,” Keith said, folding his arms, “We can’t leave them down there.”

“The castle needs time to reboot,” Coran turned from his several screens, the lights of which were dull compared to their usual glare, “Until that’s done we can’t go anywhere.”

“How long will that take?” Lance asked hesitantly, guessing that the others weren’t going to.

“Anywhere from a varga to quintants!” Coran turned back to face his screens. They watched as he tapped different buttons, “I’m doing what I can to speed up the process but there’s no telling if it’ll work.”

"Quintants?" Keith asked, Lance feeling the anger radiating off of him, "Days? They might not have days!"

The princess faced the red paladin, failing to catch the look on Lance's face telling her to leave it, "We're doing what we can Keith but this will take time-"

"They're stranded on a frozen planet surrounded by galra, they don't have time!"

A heavy silence fell over them. Hunk was messing with his hands. Coran had stopped pressing buttons and was watching the princess. Lance fidgeted from foot to foot, his gaze flitting from Allura to Keith like he didn't know which one to side with.

Allura noted the look on each of their faces, and took a moment to collect herself.

“In the meantime,” she started carefully, Hunk and Lance looking to her expectantly, “We may be able to monitor the green and black lion if we can locate their signals.”

“Which the castle can normally do right?” Hunk asked, walking over and joining Allura as she pulled up a dulled screen.

She nodded, the two of them launching into a conversation that quickly lost Lance. The Cuban looked to his side where Keith had been to find him gone. He just caught sight of him in his red armour walking away as the doors to the bridge closed behind him.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance paused in the doorway of the red lion’s hangar. Keith was sat on the paw of the massive lion, his eyes closed. His knee was bouncing up and down, his fingers drumming on his bayard. Taking a deep breath, Lance walked over to him.

“Hey,” he sat beside him on the paw, “You alright?”

“Doing great.” Keith didn’t open his eyes, “Wonderfully in fact.”

“I know you’re worried about them. I am too. But they’re like, the best people to be stuck somewhere together!”

Keith glanced sideways at him, his head not turning but he was listening.

“I mean it’s _Pidge_ and _Shiro_!”

A huffed laugh escaped Keith, “Yeah. It is.”

Lance elbowed him, “We’ll get them back.”

Keith nodded, looking to him finally with a small smile on his face, “Yeah, we will.”

 

* * *

 

There was a ringing in the paladin’s ears.

She blinked, her eyes slowly opening and taking in the scene before her. The view out of the windshield of the green lion was half obscured, and what was visible was simply white. The interior of the lion was dark, and a chill swept through it.

It took the paladin a few moments to realise the lion wasn’t upright, an ache becoming apparent in her side that was pressed against the armrest of the seat.

“Hello?” Her voice was quiet, “Can anyone hear me?”

The coms crackled, though her question was met with silence.

Her head throbbed. There seemed to be a fire raging behind her eyes.

Sighing, she pulled herself up using the back of the seat and stood tentatively on the dash of the green lion, which grumbled faintly in her mind.

“It’s okay,” she said, patting the top of the ceiling, “You’ve earned a rest. I’m going to see where we are. And if I can get a signal…”

Her knee flared with pain as she made to walk for the exit. She gripped the back of the seat tightly as she took a moment to compose herself, before continuing out of the cockpit.

A few moments later, the youngest Holt was pulling herself up onto the side of the green lion. She shivered as she took in the surroundings.

There was snow.

Or this planet’s equivalent.

The lion was on its side, half buried and sticking out of snow drifts like a bottle in an ice filled cool box.

Any sign of where the lion had originally fallen had vanished, covered over by the snow that seemed to be falling heavier.

She saw brief flashes of purple high above them, lost and obscured by the weather.

The memory of what had happened came flooding back.

The brilliant purple beam that had struck the green lion.

The searing white hot pain that had burnt through the paladin’s mind.

Everything had stopped.

Until minutes ago, when she’d woken up in the cold dark cockpit of the green lion.

Shivering, but not from the cold, Pidge wrapped her arms around herself.

“Guys?” She looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the other lions through the snowfall, “Allura? Anyone?!”

Once again she was met with silence.

Then a crackle.

“Pidge?”

“Shiro!”

She couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t alone after all. If Shiro could hear her maybe there was a chance the others could as well. Unless…

“Where are you?”

There was a beat of silence before the older paladin answered.

“Half buried in an unresponsive lion..?”

Pidge sighed and nodded, “Snap.”

“I’ll make my way to you,” Shiro said, the determination evident in his voice making it easy for Pidge to picture the look on his face, “Stay inside, the temperature’s dropping.”

Pidge glanced around, her brow knitting together as she saw nothing but white all around, “Good thing I never got out. How do you plan on finding me?”

She heard a slight hiss through the coms, followed by half a swear. Pidge raised an eyebrow, “Everything okay?”

“Peachy.” Shiro’s voice sounded strained, “Just peachy. May have to hold off on coming to find you.”

“I thought so.” Pidge carefully climbed back into the green lion, closing the hatch securely behind her, “I’ll see if I can get a scan of the area. In the meantime, stay put.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He paused for a beat, “Are you okay, Pidge?”

“Mhm,” Pidge sat and leant back against her lion, closing her eyes in an attempt to ward off the ache behind them, “You?”

“I’m alright.”

She doubted it. Though couldn’t find the energy to argue. Fighting another shiver as she looked around the interior of the green lion, she half listened to what Shiro was saying. She took the chest piece of her armour off and discarded it to the side before carefully setting her helmet to the side so she could still hear the other man's voice. As he spoke she muttered the odd sound of agreement and hoped he wasn't asking anything important.

The paladin climbed through to the sleeping area behind the cockpit and pulled a blanket around herself, sitting with her back against the wall and letting her mind wander. 

Memories of the holidays spent skiing with Matt came flooding back to her. She remembered the snowball fights they'd had that their parents had ultimately had to end. And the time there had been too much snow to go out, so they'd stayed inside and played on the computer games instead. 

She'd promised to find him. 

That had been the whole reason she'd wanted to go to space in the first place. She'd never expected to be drawn into everything she was now a part of; everything they were all now fighting for.

Now, curled up tightly on herself, she couldn't get rid of the idea that she may never find him. She felt tears in her eyes as her mind ran away with itself.

The black paladin continued to talk, Pidge hearing his voice in her ears though not quite able to pick out the words.

Green rumbled quietly in the back of mind, a little louder than last time.

“Later…”

Her eyes drifted closed, darkness consuming her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed!  
> Chapter 3 is on it's way... eventually


	3. Stranded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy heck this took WAY longer to update than I intended  
> Sorry for the long wait but here's chapter 3!!

“Pidge? Pidge?!”

Shiro’s voice bounced off the sides of the cockpit. The comms had fallen silent.

He huffed and took stock of his situation.

The black lion was lifeless, quiet even in his mind. With each minute that passed he felt it getting colder in the lion.

He needed to get to Pidge. It wasn’t normal for her to go silent. She didn’t sleep at the best of times, why would she now? He had to get to her.

Gritting his teeth, he climbed back out on top of his lion, relying on his right arm as he did. He hadn’t told Pidge.

Hadn’t wanted to worry her with the fact his left wrist hurt too much to move.

That trying had almost ripped a scream from his throat.

So he kept his arm close against him, pulling himself up with the Galra tech.

The snow, if that’s what it actually was, had started falling heavier. The black lion was near half buried.

Shiro didn’t dare think how the smaller green lion was fairing.

There was a growl in his mind as he climbed down from the lion, deep and full of concern.

“I need to,” He patted the cold metal as he stood in the snow, “I’ll be okay.”

He made it a couple of steps before stumbling in the deep snow, catching himself just before slamming face first into it.

“Alright,” the paladin righted himself and continued carefully, “Just hold on Pidge.”

The wind seemed to pick up the further he walked. Snow blurred his vision to the point where he could barely see his hand in front of him.

He was starting to think twice about his decision to set out to find the younger paladin when he spotted lights just ahead of him.

Purple lights.

“Shit…” Shiro darted to the side as a bolt of pinkish energy hit the snow where he’d been standing.

There was shouts behind him, shots being fired as he did his best to dodge them.

His feet sunk deeper as he ran; or tried his best to. He stumbled into a snow drift and struggled to get upright quickly.

A scream tore from his mouth as a shot caught him in the back of the leg where his armour met. The paladin fell forward into the snow. He scrambled forward and rolled onto his back, holding his injured arm forward and letting the shield spring out from his gauntlet.

It materialised over him as two more shots were fired near him, ricocheting off the shield. Ahead of him he watched the two figures getting closer, firing more shots.

Quickly he scrambled to his feet, digging his shield into the snow to keep him upright as pain flared through his leg. More shots were fired his way, each one bouncing off the shield while Shiro held it steady with gritted teeth.

Shiro watched as the galra figures got closer, holding the shield becoming more of an effort as more of their shots hit their mark.

One stepped closer than the other and Shiro saw his chance. Without deliberation, he slammed the shield up into them. His right arm lit up its usual brilliant purple as he grabbed hold of the soldier’s blaster and pulled it aside.

A beam struck his helmet.

Though it glinted off the side, the impact left Shiro reeling.

He stumbled back. His injured leg threw him off balance. He fell.

The two galra soldiers were instantly on him. His ears were ringing as the shield retracted back into his gauntlet.

Gritting his teeth and grasping at straws, he scooped a handful of snow and threw it at the two galra. He rolled to the side to avoid shots from the both of them, his injured leg a dead weight.

Two shots echoed at the side of his head before a booted foot crushed down into his back and forced him down into the snow. A partial growl slipped out his mouth, turning his head to the side to avoid getting a mouthful of snow.

The cold metal barrel of a blaster was pressed against the back of his neck just in the gap between where his armour and helmet met. He could hear the energy humming in the gun and making the hair on his neck stand on end.

“What have we got here?” The solider smiled as they regarded the paladin before them, “A certain someone will be very happy to hear her Champion has returned.”

Shiro struggled in the snow, though he could feel the adrenaline of the fight wearing off. A cuff was clamped around his metal arm and a moment later the arm became heavy, the glow fading and the energy trailing out of it.

“Take him back to camp,” the other soldier said in a low gravelly voice, “We’ll continue the search once this storm’s died down.”

As they began pulling him up, Shiro threw himself sideways into one of the soldiers. They gave a shout as they stumbled in a snow drift. Shiro tripped over them though fought to stay on his feet. Pain shot through his leg and a purple bolt arced just past him. It thumped into the snow ahead of him, sending a plume of it up into the air.

Shiro gritted his teeth and dove into the cloud. The galra shouted out behind him, bright bolts thudding in the snow around the paladin.

A beam whizzed past him. He fell. 

The man clawed himself back onto his feet and scrambled forwards. Under him his leg dragged in the snow, getting caught in the drift. He fell.

When he stood he didn't make it a full step before he braced too much weight on his bad leg.

He fell.

With each step. 

Each time getting to his feet became more of an effort. 

The adrenaline was gone. He hurt. He was moving too slowly to get away, but he couldn't make himself move any quicker. Couldn't make his muscles listen to him. 

A bolt slammed into his side.

The shot tore through the under layer of his armour. A scream ripped from his throat before he could think to stop it. The energy burnt into his skin, his head spinning and ears ringing. He fell.

He threw his arm out to brace himself, forgetting his previous injury and shouting out as pain flared up his arm.

His face hit the snow.

The feeling was similar to shoving one’s head into a bucket of ice water and left him reeling.

Before he had time to recover the soldiers grasped his arms, holding them behind his back as they hauled him to his feet.

The black lion rumbled in the back of the paladin’s mind. Shiro felt her frustration at being stuck helpless in the snow.

He muttered through the comms, attempting to get through to Pidge one more time.

He was met with silence.

Around him the wind grew louder, until it became a humming in his ears. The snow fell faster until it blurred his vision. He felt his eyes closing, and with it the aching seemed to subside. Seemed to fade away into a quiet buzz at the back of his mind and replaced the roars of his lion.

He fell.

And this time, he didn't stand.

 

* * *

 

 

"Not that one. Nope. No. The next one. That one."

Hunk tried his best to hide his exasperation as he took the right wrench from Lance. 

It had been nearly a full varga since they'd gone through the wormhole and they were still no further forward to going back.

Allura and Coran were trying everything they could. The last he'd seen of Coran, the Altean had apparently had a brainwave and had taken off at a run looking for the mice. Keith had gone to the lions, seeing if he could somehow get through directly to green and black, though Hunk suspected it was mainly in order to be alone.

Mechanics had never been Lance's strong suit, but Hunk had seen the lost look on his face when everyone had assigned themselves jobs and invited him to help.

"They'll definitely be okay right?" Lance asked quietly, fiddling with one of the screwdrivers, "Cause like... what if they're not? I mean, Shiro's the black paladin. And we can't do anything without Pidge... I bet we'd already be moving if she were here..."

"I'll try not to be offended by that," Hunk smiled at his friend as he returned under the panels, "But yeah. I know we would. They'll be okay Lance, just like we will be."

"I'm pretty sure we're meant to be moving by now."

"The Castle took a lot of hits. It'll take time to repair."

"It's taking too much time."

The yellow paladin paused and glanced out at his friend. 

Lance's brows were knitted together, his gaze fixed on the screwdriver as he scuffed it along the metal floor. Neither of them had changed out of their armour and their bayards laid on the floor around them. 

"Think about it," Hunk said carefully as he resumed repairing the panel, "They've got their lions for one. Even out of power they'll help."

"The whole planet is swarming with galra."

"They have bayards."

Lance was quiet. 

Hunk moved back out from under the panel and looked to the other boy. He set the wrench aside, putting a hand on Lance's shoulder, "What's really up?"

There was a beat of silence before the blue paladin exploded.

"We're just stuck here! And they're stuck over there!" He threw the screwdriver to the side, the sound echoing throughout the corridor, "Maybe if I'd have been faster I could have done something... Like push Pidge out the way. Or shoot down the fighter... I didn't do anything."

"Are you kidding me?" Hunk squeezed his arm gently, "You saved me and yellow! We would of been dead in the water if you didn't terrorise those two fighters. Keith probably wouldn't have made it to the wormhole if it hadn't been for you. You shot down more ships than the rest of us put together."

"Wasn't enough though was it?"

"No one's dead. You stopped that happening."

"You don't know that. You can't, anything could've happened on that planet."

"If either of them died Allura would feel it. The lions would... I don't know... stop? She'd just know."

"That's not exactly a comforting explanation Hunk..."

"I'll admit I'm still not completely up to speed on the inner workings of the Voltron lions and Altean alchemy."

Lance chuckled quietly, "That makes two of us."

Hunk cracked a smile at hearing his best friend laugh. 

The two sat together, listening to the quiet whirring of the reserve power running through the Castle. 

"You're part of this team, Lance," Hunk said softly, "We can't do this without you."

The blue paladin met his gaze, a small smile tugging at his lips. That was all it took for the yellow paladin to pull him into an embrace. 

"Thanks Hunk." Lance muttered into his shoulder.

Hunk hugged him a little tighter, "Anytime."

The two paladins stayed in each others arms, taking the comfort for as long as they could. 

In fact, they couldn't have been sitting there for longer than a minute when they heard the whirring pick up. It grew louder, faster. The boys opened their eyes slowly; and large, beaming smiles lit up their faces.

Down the corridor at both end, the lights were turning on. One by one. Not the dulled reserve lighting, but the bright glowing bulbs. They flicked on steadily, like a health bar going up in a video game, getting greener with each flick.

Though countless corridors and floors away, they heard Coran cheer.

Someone had succeeded in something, and they guessed it was him.

Hunk looked to Lance, "Let's find our family."

Though Hunk didn't think it was possible, Lance's smile grew, "Let's!"

Both paladins scrambled to their feet and tore off towards the bridge, their footsteps echoing like heartbeats around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is!  
> Hopefully chapter 4 will be out quicker than this, though college is piling on the workloads currently so writing is hard  
> Thanks to any of you guys still reading this!!


	4. Think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was fun to write...

Too slowly she remembered where she was. What had happened. It was like wading through water. The shore was close, but not close enough. Waves crashed around her. They buzzed in her ears

No. It wasn't waves. It couldn't be. There was no shore, no water. The image faded.

There was a dull ache behind Pidge's eyes as she regained consciousness. She shivered. The lion was cold.  And dark. Too long. It took her too long to realise the buzzing had continued.

She rubbed her face and looked around the lion. The helmet she'd discarded was where she had left it. She could hear the static through the coms clearer now. It felt wrong. More wrong than perhaps it should have. The view from the lion was nearly completely obstructed now. She supposed that was why the coms weren't working.

Carefully, she moved to tug the blanket from the locker by the sleeping area in the lion. Pain lanced down her side as she did, flaring in her knee.  As she wrapped the blanket around herself and eased herself back onto the floor where she'd been sitting, it hit her.

Why the buzzing felt wrong.

Whose voice the static had replaced.

"Shiro!" 

She grabbed for the helmet, wincing at the protest her side made. She shouted down the line, but all she received in return was the same dull crackling.

He'd been talking. Why was he silent now?

_It's the weather,_ the rational part of the paladin's mind told her. _It's just because of the weather._

However, she couldn't bring herself to believe it.

There was something else. 

The same tiny shred of self that had been sure to remind her something was wrong, to gnaw at her insides until she'd found what is was. The same gentle voice that occasionally echoed at the back of her mind. That was the other voice that whispered in her mind. Not strictly hers, but that of the green lion. Her green lion.

The quiet purr turned into a steady rumble. From one lion for another. For her sister lion, stranded out there somewhere in the snow. Pidge sat up straighter. Her knee could wait. She dug around in the darkness until her hand clasped around what she was looking for. Quickly she pulled her laptop out onto her lap, the bright light of the screen illuminating the lion as the machine surged to life. All she needed was a signal. Then she could find them; both Shiro and his lion.

But there was nothing.

"Please," she breathed, paying a hand against the freezing metal of her lion, "I know you're spent but please... I need your help..."

A beat of silence.

Then a light.

A small signal on the dashboard of the cockpit. The signal that told her the lion had been listening, that it was searching.  She smiled faintly as a map gradually formed on her laptop. It was slower than usual, though the paladin didn't mind. Part of her wished it would go quicker, but the fact it was going at all was enough for her. 

Minutes that seemed to drag like hours ticked by. Pidge watched as the map seemed to load like an internet page with crappy connection. It showed each ridge, hill and cavern on the planet. A few swipes of the scanner later, several dots appeared on the map. 

One slightly larger than the rest sat nearby. It was a little brighter than the others, it's position not changing. The black lion. It had to be. Just beyond that one, in a cavern to the north, five smaller dots blinked to life.  Two seemed to hover by the entrance, while the other three stayed inside. She hoped they weren't galran, but she knew her luck was running out.

Pidge's eyes stayed glued to the screen a little longer before setting the laptop aside. Carefully, she once again tested her knee. The throbbing didn't subside, flaring when she straightened and bent her leg.

Get to the black lion.

She had to get there.

She knew where it was. Had committed its location to memory as she had countless lines of code and formulas and stars and constellations.

She knew where it was.

And that was all she needed to know.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The snow was deep as the green paladin trekked through it. Whether just from numbing cold or her impromptu first aid, the pain in her knee had stopped flaring with every step. Using the light from her laptop, she had managed to find the small first aid kit kept in each lion; a recently new addition, but a welcome one nonetheless. With it she had fashioned a brace for her knee. Though she would have to put up with the pain burning in her ribs.

Painkillers hadn't quite reached deep space yet. Despite every part of her wanting to run, she remembered the winters spent snowball fighting with Matt. She remembered the time he had fallen down a hill hidden by the snow and sprained his ankle. That was the last thing she needed.

One saving grace, however, was that the weather began to calm. Slowly. But without a doubt. She could see more than a foot in front of her, and when she reached it, could see the hunking mound of snow that could only have been made by a lion of Voltron.

A glint of black metal shine at the top of the mound, reaffirming Pidge's thoughts.

"Shiro!" She called, the wind seeming to give way to her voice. 

She received no answer.

And so began carefully climbing up to the hatch of the lion. She brushed the snow aside carefully before pulling on the hatch.  The metal was like ice. The coldness burnt through her gloves as she opened the hatch. It felt heavier than that of her own lion, though she didn't stop until it was open.

"Shiro?"

The lion was pitch black as Pidge climbed down into it. Her breath clouded in front of her.

She was alone. 

The lion was empty.

 

 

* * *

 

  

He wasn’t here.

Why wasn’t he here?

Pidge searched the lion as if its paladin was going to be discovered hiding in one of the lockers. Her search turned up nothing. There was no sign of him. No sign that he had ever even been here. Her coms remained silent. The fear she felt steadily creeping up the back of her neck was an effort to push back, but she could do nothing else.

Think.

She had to calm down and she had to think.

People didn’t just disappear.

Think.

He had been talking to her.

What had he said?

Think.

Think.

_Think._

_Stay Put._

_Coming to find you._

_Make my way to you._

_Stay put._

He hadn’t listened.

Of course he hadn’t listened.

She needed to find him. Now.

She needed to find him now.

Wasting no time, she climbed back out of the lion, carefully hopping down into the snow.

“I’ll find him,” she promised to the lion as she patted its side, “I’ll bring him back.”

And then she set off.

The map her lion had all but gifted her stuck strong in her mind. The cavern it had showed her was not far off, and the snow was falling softer now.

“Hold on Shiro,” Pidge muttered as she continued on her journey, “Just hold on.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Voices thrummed in the space around him. Where the space was exactly he didn’t know. But it was cold.

Numbingly cold. Cold that blocked out anything else. It clung to everything like a thick smoke, sitting heavy on his chest.

Or maybe that was something else.

There was a gentle crackling. Though it seemed far away. But he felt like he was on fire. It felt like every inch of him burnt. He was burning.

But he couldn’t move.

Couldn’t bring his eyes to open.

He thought he heard a low rumble in the back of his head, but it faded to nothing as darkness took over once again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Pidge slowed as she reached the crest of the snowy hill facing the cavern.

She lowered herself to the ground, not exactly feeling the chilly bite of the snow as she all but submerged herself into it. 

_Thank God for the helmet,_ the paladin had thought to herself as she'd shuffled through the snow, the helmet preventing her hair from getting completely soaked through. She couldn't help but wander if the blue paladin's armour would have served her better in the snow.

It had been slow going. The snow seemed thicker than what they got on Earth. Heavier almost. More like badly mashed potato than snow. Potato that had been left on the side for too long and was now compacted together.

But she had made it. And now here she was.

The cavern sat ahead of her. Two Galra soldiers stood at the entrance, blasters in their hands and eyes on the horizon. A small ship sat half buried in the snow nearby. 

Good.

That meant they must be stranded here too. They wouldn't be able to leave until the ship was clear of the snow. 

But the snow wouldn't be here in another hour or two. And the weather was clearing. 

They would leave soon. And if they had Shiro...

Pidge took a long, deep breath, closing her eyes and steeling herself. Forcing her heartbeat to calm. The other paladins were still unresponsive. Her lion was silent. Lions both black and green were exhausted. 

It was up to her. Her and only her. 

She could do this.

She would do this.

Doing anything else was not an option. 

Her eyes opened, narrowing in thought as she fixed her gaze on the guards at the cavern. 

Her fingers curled, her suit humming quietly in anticipation of what was coming.

And it's weight a steady comfort in her hand, she drew her bayard.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I just really love Pidge??  
> The next one will nearly definitely hopefully be out sooner than this one was...  
> Hope y'all enjoyed!!

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter to be up soon hopefully..  
> Until next time paladudes


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